Jinsei

Jinsei is magnificently singular: intensely personal, wildly hypothetical and so thrillingly new it feels it might itself have come from some version of the vividly strange future it imagines.

Ryuya Suzuki’s masterful anime, which spans the century-long life of a J-Pop star, makes it impossible to ignore how little it shows you.

Suzuki’s film does more to suggest a promise of great things to come. But the vision is still there to impress, even when one feels certain pieces are missing.

An often miraculous and occasionally exasperating Japanese anime film.

By the film’s midway point, there’s little concrete to hold onto within the story and there’s always a risk of floating away from the onscreen action entirely.

For all the narrative hiccups it sometimes suffers, the film’s bold vision and unique aesthetic herald a fresh new voice on the anime scene, and I greatly anticipate its next work.

I have been more engaged trying to sift through my feelings about this movie after the fact than I was actually watching it. Sometimes, when it comes to art, that's just how it is, and I don't think I could convincingly say Jinsei is unsuccessful. But I don't think it's successful enough. Though it creates striking moments and leaves a lasting impact of some kind, Suzuki aims for a scope of storytelling that his film just doesn't achieve anywhere but on paper.